Instant messaging (IM) refers to a form of electronic communication that allows a plurality of users to communicate with one another in real time. While originally limited to the real time exchange of text messages, IM has expanded to encompass real time voice, video, and the exchange of digital files. Each user that will be communicating via IM must have presence. That is, each user must have a network connection and, via his or her IM client, be logged onto an IM server. Generally, the IM server is responsible for establishing IM sessions between IM clients and facilitating the exchange of IM communications among the IM clients of a particular IM session.
IM has become an important means of communication within organizations of all types. It is not uncommon for users engaged in an IM session to multitask. At times, a participant in an IM session may have a pressing need to leave his or her IM client. If that participant does not notify other participants of his or her absence from the IM client, e.g., explicitly or through a change of status, the other participants have no way of knowing that the participant is no longer available.